The advent of COVID-19 has fueled the rise of telemedicine, accelerating growth beyond what was even imaginable only three months ago. Along with this phenomenon, a related mystery has been seemingly solved: can patients be as satisfied with virtual interactions as they are with in-person encounters?

New research shows that counted deaths from COVID-19 in mid-April were about 20 times greater than seasonal influenza counted deaths recorded during peak weeks of the past seven flu seasons.

The process is based on a concept from the University of Nebraska and adheres to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The health system is now using the system to decontaminate and reuse up to 12,000 N95 masks a day.

Healthcare organizations carry a heavy workplace violence burden, with about three-quarters of U.S. workplace assaults occurring in healthcare settings, according to OSHA. Workplace violence is especially prevalent in emergency departments—78% of emergency physicians have reported being targets of workplace violence in the prior 12 months.

The problem with suggesting that complex issues can be addressed through “absolute” solutions is that, unless used in algebra, absolutes rarely further their intended goal.

An Atlanta-based nonprofit organization that focuses on drug diversion prevention has launched an online forum that it hopes will change the landscape of the drug diversion problem in U.S. hospitals.

As I write this at the end of March, I am confronted with a world turned upside down. 

Yet this unprecedented event has also taught me a valuable lesson. While I always believed data to be a valuable tool to guide science and decision-making, I never realized how important a role it plays during a crisis.

This appendix, reprinted from “Hospital Experiences Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of a National Pulse Survey March 23–27, 2020” by the HHS Office of Inspector General, was released April 6 and provides a snapshot of challenges for hospitals dealing with a surge of infectious patients.

If you are still preparing for a major onslaught of suspected COVID-19 patients or expect another in the fall, review your plans against the strategies hospitals already have employed to deal with supply and personnel challenges, as outlined in an HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) report released April 6.